Shadow Step
by supercutekillerkittenofdoom
Summary: Fairy Tail has a new recruit, however the hyperactive, photoaugliaphobic and phengophobic Kiiri Kawashura might prove to be more than a match for the guild as she drives them up the wall and round the bend. Please R&R, more info inside.
1. Arial Bombardment

Title: Shadow Step

Genre: Romance/Humour

Pairings: Many.

Rating/Warnings: T for some language (mainly for safety)

Other notes:

This is my first Fairy Tail Fanfic, however I am looking to become a professional author at some point and I am unsing this as a practice for creating my own characters. I would love some constructive comments on the main original character in the story.

Definitions:

Photoaugliaphobia - Fear of bright lights

Phengophobia - Fear of daylight or sunshine

Summary: Fairy Tail has a new recruit, however the hyperactive, photoaugliaphobic and phengophobic Kiiri Kawashura might prove to be more than a match for the guild as she drives them up the wall and round the bend.

Chapter 1 - Arial Bombardment

A gentle summer breeze rustled the leaves in Magnolia East Forest, but Kiiri found it annoying, the sun kept reaching her eyes, so she put her parasol up to shield herself from the bright rays.

"This is rediculous, there's no signs or anything." she sighed, "Well if I keep going I'll reach the edge soon." she smiled and skipped along the path, the bells on her grey ankle boots jingling as they went.

Elsewhere in the forest the Raijinshuu were on a mission, though they were not happy about it.

"Man, why did the master send us on such a simple mission, taking out a few theives come on, my babies'll die of boredom!" Bixlow moaned

"Let's just get this over with, then we can find something more interesting to do." Evergreen sighed.

"Yeah..." Fried's mind was elsewhere.

"Umm Ever, we really need to do something about him." Bixlow looked at Fried shaking his head.

"Yes, but what, how are we gonna convince Cana to go out with him."

"I dunno, but that's your job Ever, how'd it look if I started the conversation?"

"I'd pay to watch, that's for sure."

They continued deeper into the forest until they reached the suspected location of the theives' camp.

"Can you hear something?" Evergreen paused

"Sounds like bells, but what a crazy tune." Bixlow looked round trying to see where the noise was coming from.

The theives had also heard the noise and were looking round on edge and alert.

Suddenly a brown haired girl wearing a half black half white mini dress skipped into the clearing, the jingling was coming from bells attached to her boots.

"Oh, there's people!" she jumped a little, her many braids bouncing with her. "Do you know if is path leads to Magnolia, I'm kinda lost."

"Whoa, she's a cutey." One of the theives smirked.

"Don't you worry, we can show you the way." Another said

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." The girl giggled from under her parasol.

_Something isn't right here, there's meant to be more than three_ Evergreen realised, _where are the others? Well at least Bixlow is paying attention for once._

Bixlow's dolls had been encircling the encampment, getting ready for their strike. Fried was off in is own world, which was probably why Makarov was keeping them close to Magnolia, just in case he did something stupid.

"So what's your name?"_  
><em>

"Kiiri, what's your names?"

Evergreen could see where this was going, so decided to intervene.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've got business with these theives." she stepped into the clearing.

"Wait, these guys are theives?" Kiiri looked horrified

"Yes, they prey on travellers like you."

"Ooooh, that's not very nice." Kiiri turned to the men, "Were you going to mug me?"

"Heh, heh, sorry, but yeah, though we would have taken you to Magnolia, anyway, since we've been found guess there's no helping it." They vanished with a puff of smoke.

"They're invisible, great." Evergreen sighed, "This job just keeps getting better and better."

She noticed the girl, Kiiri, was concentrating.

"Shadow Eyes!"

Evergreen was shocked when the girl's eyes turned pitch black, then

"Behind you, duck!"

Evergreen moved, and felt something brush past her.

"You can see them?"

"That's what Shadow Eyes does, it allows me to see through magical concealment."

"Then what?"

"I keep hitting them till they fall down." she smiled, her eyes glinting with some inner spark.

_I never thought I'd meet anyone as crazy as Bixlow, but I may just have._

"Try to put some kind of marker on them, hurry."

"Ok," Kiiri reached into her bagand pulled out a pouch.

"Hold your breath." she called out raising the bag up.

Evergreen covered her mouth as Kiiri threw the bag to the floor.

Flour exploded everywhere filling the clearing, obscuring all vision for a few moments, as it settled Evergreen could see five shapes marked out by the white powder.

"Right, so there's five of them, this'll be easy now, Bixlow!"

"ALRIGHT! GET 'EM BABIES!" he laughed.

"Eh...?" was all kiiri could say before the dolls began firing.

Once the mayhem was over Kiiri took stock of the situation, there were two more mages with the woman who had told her about the theives, one had green hair and look like he was in a dream, the other, well, something about him made her nervous.

"Thanks for that, though is he ok?" she pointed at the daydreamer

"Girl problems." Evergreen explained

"Oh, did he get rejected?"

"No, not even asked her out yet." Bixlow laughed, dolls joining in.

"Cool are those yours?" Kiiri pointed to the dolls, giggling.

"Yeah, those are my babies."

"Aww, they're so cute!"

_CUTE! She thinks his dolls are CUTE! _There was a thud as Fried hit the floor, _Even Fried noticed, well maybe he'll wake up properly this time _Evergreen was somehow managing to keep a straight face.

"Anyway, do you know which way Magnolia is?"

"That way, you'll find a well used path, turn east and keep going, you'll reach the town in no time." Evergreen said, she noticed Bixlow hadn't said anything, _Probably still in shock, she's the first person ever to call his dolls cute._

"Oh, I didn't get your names, I'm Kiiri."

"Evergreen, the unconcious, lovestruck idiot is Fried, and the other idiot is Bixlow."

"Hey!"

"Anyway, I gotta run, bye!" Kiiri smiled and waved before she ran off into the trees, keeping her parasol over her head.

Soon the sound of jingling bells had faded leaving the rustling of leaves in the breeze.

"She thought my babies were . . . cute . . ." Bixlow was unusually quiet.

"And your point is?" Evergreen was getting annoyed

"First time anyone has said something like that about my babies."

"Oh no, not you too!" Evergreen could see the signs.

"But she was kinda pretty."

"Pretty!"

"Pretty!"

"ARGH WHAT IS IT WITH YOU MEN?"


	2. Newbie

Authors notes:

I've re-writing chapter 2, I was never really happy with it, so here is attempt 2 of chapter 2.

This is slight AU, ever since the S-Class Mage exam arc.

And My thanks to Lu-ChanFT for the review.

Kiiri eventually found her way to Magnolia.

"Hmm, it's a nice place, now all I have to do is find it."

She was getting odd looks as she wandered around, but she ignored them, there was no point in letting others get to you, that was something she lived by.

"Ah, here it is!" she giggled, heading for a large building.

CRASH! Just as she reached the double doors, they exploded, two young men falling onto the street, oblivious to the damage they were causing.

"SAY THAT AGAIN ICEHEAD!"

"ALRIGHT FLAMEBRAIN!"

"_You two. . . my. . . cake. . . you. . ."_

"Eeek, sorry Erza, we'll buy you another."

"Aye!"

"Umm guys, maybe we should be more worried about the fact you nearly killed a passer by." Kiiri heard a blonde haired girl say.

"Wha. . . uh oh. . . are you alright?" the dark haired mage from the fight asked. It took Kiiri a few seconds to realised that he was speaking to her.

"Eh? Me? Oh I'm fine, it's just a couple of scratches." she scrabbled around for her dropped parasol, trying not to look up at the sky.

Once she had it over her head, her breathing slowed back to a more normal pace.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm tougher than I look." she protested as she stood up.

"You sure you don't need help getting to where you're going?" the woman called Erza asked.

"No, since I'm already there."

"Eh?"

"Ah, I'm Kiiri Kawashura, and I want to join Fairy Tail!"

"Ahh, one moment, Master, we have someone who wants to join!"

"Another newbie eh? Well it's always nice to have new faces around." he regarded her carefully, her shoulder length brown hair was done in hundreds of tiny braids, each ending in a different coloured bead. The dress was showed off her legs, and the perverted part of his mind decided they were nice legs. The parasol was black with white trim, matching her dress.

"I see no problems, Mira'll sort everything out for you."

"Thank you." Kiiri giggled, it suddenly reminded him of something, but he couldn't figure out what.

He pointed Kiiri to Mirajane, who was already pulling the appropriate forms out.

"Hi, Kiiri just a couple of questions, there's these new forms from the council to fill in. So have you been in any guilds before?"

"Most of them."

"Eh?"

"I've been trying to find the right guild for me, and none of them were, they're nice and all, just not me, not crazy enough."

"I don't think you'll have any problems here, also what magic do you use?"

"Shadow Magic."

"Any specialisations?"

"Shadow Step."

"What's that?" Mira was confused.

"It's complicated, I can create portals between this world and the Shadow World."

"Shadow World?"

"It's another layer of reality that overlaps this one, most mages used it for transportation, or surveilance, or to get into places that you otherwise couldn't get into."

"Used?"

"Very few Shadow Mages bother with Shadow Step, it's very difficult to get the hang of the Shadow World, so they don't bother."

"Ah, so that's all the paperwork done, now all you need is your guild mark." she pulled a stamp out from under the counter.

"Hmm, here please. in black." she pointed to her left thigh, just below the hem of her dress."

"You sure?"

"Yep!"

"Here you go, you are now officially a member of Fairy Tail!"

"Cool."

"I'll show you where everything is, and introduce you to some of the members, you've alreay met Natsu, Grey, Erza and Lucy."

CRASH!

"And they're fighting again, don't worry, they care for each other deep down, and maybe more than they realise." Mira winked.

-Elsewhere in Magnolia-

"Uhh, Ever, he's wandered off again."

"DAMNIT FREED WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL- I'LL. . ."

"Wait, he'd just gone to buy snacks."

"Fine, I'm going to go home, and then I'll have a long bath to unwind."

"Alright, also are you on that time of the month right now?" Bixlow asked

"Took you long enough to notice." she growled in response.

"Geez, fine, I'll take the idiot back to the guild and tell the Master we're done, see ya."

Once Evergreen was gone, Bixlow turned to Freed who was spacing out on a bench.

"Yo Freed, wake up, Ever's on PMS you need to snap outta this daze before she kills you."

"Uh-huh."

"Hah, you know if you keep like this I'm gonna tell her."

"No don't!"

"Right now you're more animated, lets go before Ever changes her mind and tries to kill both of us."

"Uhhh-right, where are we going again?"

"What day is it?"

"Monday?"

"Friday, you've blanked almost an entire week, baka."

"How, but, why?"

"You need to see a Therapist." Bixlow said, dragging Freed along to the guild.

"Pandemonium as always?" Bixlow grinned as they arrived to see Erza standing over Natsu and Grey, who were repairing the door.

"We have a new member, try not to terrify her." Erza said cooly.

"Anyone we might know of?" Bixlow asked

"Her name is Kiiri Kawashura, she's a Shadow Mage."

"I think we ran into her in the forest." Freed said.

"You forget most of the week, but you remember that?" Bixlow groaned

"Black and white dress, brown hair, violet eyes?" Grey said.

"That's her, where is she now?"

"Mira's showing her around Fairy Hills at the moment." Erza said.

"Ah, Ever's in for surprise." Bixlow grinned.

Freed was just shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"She said Bixlows dolls were cute." Freed explained.

Natsu and Grey looked at each other, horrified

"There are several descriptions I have for those things, cute isn't one of them." Lucy shuddered.

"Hey, you hurt their feelings!" Bixlow sulked.

"I think they're kinda cute." Wendy said.

"See, someone agrees that they're cute." Bixlow hugged Wendy, who nearly fainted from terror.


	3. Kurokawajima  Part 1

Authors notes: well I'm back to writing again, and this story needed a bit of work, an actual summary, chapter 2 rewrite and now chapter 3 is up.

I really, really, really would like reviews, esp since I'm using this story to work on original character ideas, some of these people may end up in some original work I plan to put onto later in the year.

Kiiri looked around her room in Fairy Hills and smiled. Mirajane had left her to unpack and now she was trying to figure out where she wanted everything to go.

"First things first, ohh, nice thick curtains, good." she smiled, and began to unpack.

Knock Knock

"Door's open." Kiiri called.

"Umm, I was told you were new and. . ."

"Eh, you're in Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah, and now you?" Evergreen could not believe her eyes.

"Yep, I'm just unpacking."

"Ah, why are your curtains shut?"

"I have issues with bright lights and daylight."

"Eh?"

"Phobias, for some reason I can't go out in bright daylight, and I have issues with things like fireworks and spotlights, though oddly enough, I'm fine with lightning, then that's probably to do with my aunt, they didn't name her The Stormcaller for nothing."

"So the Parasol lets you go out during the day?"

"Yep, I try to work around the issue, and my parasol works." Kiiri smiled.

"Anyway, I'll let you finish unpacking, I really need a bath, those two idiots have been driving me up the wall lately."

"Ok, I might join you once I'm done, it'll be nice to unwind without that drunk flamingo hitting on me every five minutes."

"Who?"

"My last guild was Quatro Cerberus."

"Ah, Bacchus, pffft, drunk flamingo, I like it." Evergreen sniggered before leaving.

By the time Kiiri was done, most of the girls had gone to bed, and only Evergreen was still in the water.

"Took a while."

"Yeah, it's gonna take a while to get used to, but I don't mind."

Evergreen twitched, Kiiri spoke with a happy giggle, and it was constant, it was going to be a long night.

"So how are those two driving you up the wall?"

"The main problem is Freed, he's had a rough couple of months recently, I guess I'd better explain from the begining. Our trio used to follow another Mage around, Laxus."

"I've heard of him, but I didn't see him in the Guild."

"You won't, a few weeks back he kinda lost it, and nearly blew the whole town up, made the whole guild fight each other and lost. He got kicked out as a result."

"I'm guessing he had issues."

"Several, mostly due to the fact he is the Master' Grandson, and all the unfair comparisons, and a whole bunch of other stuff."

"Ah."

"Anyway, Freed is Gay, or Bi, we're not sure right now, and give a guess who he liked?"

"I'm seeing where this is going."

"It was about as one sided as you can get, but he was happy as long as Laxus was around."

"And now he's not."

"Yes, and he's suddenly chasing Cana around, don't ask me why."

"Hmm, sounds like someone who really needs a shoulder to cry on, but is too proud to ask, so all the bottled up emotions metamorph into other emotions which their subconcious considers more acceptable, I saw a lot of it when I was in Blue Pegasus."

"That doesn't surprise me, but how do you fix it?"

"With great difficulty, I'm guessing before the mess you mentioned before, Freed acted more or less normally?"

"Yes."

"Well, the best cure I found was to get the original object of affections and the person together."

"Umm, I don't think that's gonna happen, Laxus is straight, that I am certain of."

"The other option is for the new crush to beat it out of him."

"Hmm, I think Cana would go for that somehow."

"Is that the main problem?"

"Yeah, Bixlow is just crazy, but normally Freed balances things out, so it's fine, but with him like this."

"Ah, so fix Freed and the rest goes back to normal."

"More or less, pms isn't helping though."

"I don't get pms, I guess I'm lucky like that."

"Why not?"

"I've never had it, I have the blood and all that, just none of the symptoms."

"Lucky brat."

"I'm twenty-three you know."

"Wow, you look about sixteen."

"It's a family trait, my mom stopped aging at nineteen, along with her sister, no one knew why, I stopped at sixteen, I guess it's just the way it is."

Evergreen grimmaced, this girl was going to drive everyone up the wall, she was certain of it.

-The next morning, in the guild-

"I've gotten some stuff from the council master, it's not like the usual complaints though." Mirajane said, passing Makarov a sealed envelope.

"Hmm, it's a job, investigating a haunted village, they need a mage who can see souls, and they can only think of one who has a chance of surviving, apparantly the ghosts are quite hostile to outsiders."

"I'm worried, it sounds like an S-Class mission."

"They insist on a team, minimum three people, but I have no idea where this village is."

"What's it called?"

"Kurokawajima."

"Get the Raijinshu, and see if you can find someone else to go with them, I want at least four people on this job, it would have been easy two months ago."

"Ah they're here, I'll grab them."

"Send them to my office, and ask around the guild about Kurokawajima."

"Hai, Master."

-Makarovs office-

"Well it's gotta be more fun than those bandits." Bixlow sighed, "But four people?"

"The council said three, but those incompetant fools have probably underestimated the situation."

"Don't they have their own teams for this sort of thing?" Evergreen asked.

"Apparantly, of the five teams they sent, four lost their minds, and one never returned!"

"So you two'll be fine, no minds to lose in the first place." she hissed at her two teammates.

"Ever!" both complained.

"Anyway, Mira is looking for someone who can help you, I want you on your way by tomorrow morning."

"Yes Master."

"I normally wouldn't force you, but the council seemed pretty insistant."

"Yeah well, lets see if Mira has found anyone." Bixlow said, getting up to leave.

As they left the office, they ran into Mira, who was being followed by Kiiri.

"Kiiri says she knows a bit about Kurokawajima, and said she'd go with you."

"Ok, but it's apparantly really dangerous." Evergreen said.

"I know, but where's the fun if there's no danger." Kiiri giggled.


	4. Kurokawajima Part 2

Authors notes: And here is chapter 4, Kurokawajima part 2 (of 3). I hope you all enjoy, and please review, I give cookies to reviewers.

"So what is Kurokawajima?" Freed asked, acting normal for a change.

"It was a village in the north of Fiore, until eighteen years ago when it was destroyed. It used to be _the_ place to study Shadow Magic, so much was lost then, I have a book from there, it's mainly a reference book, but it does teach Shadow Step magic."

"A book?" Evergreen raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was one of ten copies in the world, now it's the only copy left, the other nine were destroyed along with Kurokawajima, I don't know how this one survived." she pulled out a small hardback book, bound in black leather and held shut by an onyx clasp.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, 'To Walk the Path of Shadows' as I said, it's mainly a reference book for those looking to travel through the Shadow World, but it teaches Shadow Step, as the best spell to get access to the Shadow World."

"You should speak to Levi, she'll probably know someone who can copy it." Freed said

"Levi?"

"Blue hair, obsessed with books, followed around by a pair of teenage fangirl impersonators." Bixlow said.

"Oh, ok, thanks, anyway to get there, we need to get the train to Shirotsume, then hire a carridge and head into the mountains, and we won't be able to find a guide, no one in those mountains will even speak about Kurokawajima."

"So what exactly does the council want us to do when we get there, all they asked was for an investigation, but into what?" Evergreen asked.

"Hmm, the obvious one is what happened to the village, no one knows what destroyed it." Freed said.

"There's also the chance of finding some lost Shadow Magic, that would be awesome." Kiiri said.

"Why was it the place to study Shadow Magic?" Evergreen sighed

"It had a permenant portal the the Shadow World in the village hall, apparantly, maybe it's something to do with that."

"Or they want to know why their teams ended up the way they did." Bixlow suggested.

"Hmm, they wanted a Mage who could see souls, why?" Freed thought out loud

"I dunno." Bixlow said.

"Ghosts are souls, bound to this world by something, whether willing or not, they have a form which hides their souls from view, it's said that if you can see the soul of a ghost, you will learn what binds it to this world, which may be linked to what happened, or who did it." Freed said.

"Makes sense, but why all the secrecy?" Bixlow sighed as they reached the station.

"It's the council, I try not to think about why they do things, too much of a headache." Kiiri said.

"Right, train to Shirotsume, why not further?" Evergreen said

"The route through the mountains can only be accessed from Shirotsume, unless you like climbing."

"We could always fly." Bixlow said.

"I can't, I'm still learning that spell." Kiiri complained.

"Hmm, I could carry you." Bixlow said.

"O-Ok. . ." he really did make Kiiri nervous, but she wasn't afraid, it was, wierd.

"So flying it is, so much faster that way, Babies, flight formation."

"Yami no erecture!"

"Here we go!"

Bixlow grabbed Kiiri, one arm pressing her against him, the other underneath her legs. Kiiri grabbed on to him as the group flew off at speed.

Bixlow was flying a little slower than normal, mainly to keep his balance, he doubted Kiiri would appreciate being dropped.

"If you end up dropping me, don't bother catching me, I can use Shadow Step like a parachute."

"How?" he was confused.

"I can manipulate gravity and friction in the Shadow World, so if I fall I can just glide and land safely, though you'll need to pick me up when I land."

"Fine, but I don't intend to drop you."

"Good."

They flew for most of the day with little conversation, the noise of the wind drowning every other sound out.

By sundown they had reached Shirotsume, and Evergreen was complaining about the state of her hair.

"I knew there was a reason I hated long distance flying."

Bixlow shook his head, at least Freed was more or less back to normal. He put Kiiri down, deep down, missing the feeling of her clinging to him, she was a very good looking girl, with just the right proportions.

"We should find somewhere to stay the night." Freed said.

"There looks alright." Bixlow pointed to an inn, "Don't looks too cheap, or too expensive."

The inn catered for travellers, and had two twin rooms left."

"Well that's good, girls in one room, us two in the other." Bixlow sniggered.

"What's so funny?" Evergreen gave him a dangerous look.

"Seems this inn is haunted, I see a soul, but no body, and it's following you."

"Wait, what?"

"Hmm, well given what we're gonna be dealing with, it'll be good to get some experience before hand." Kiiri said, taking the key and heading up the stairs."

"Hmm, it's following you now."

"Shadow Eyes. . .hmm, ah I know what this is, Shadow Step." She stepped forwards, then vanished. A few moments later she reappeared, supporting a Rune Knight.

"What the?"

"Thank you, I'm from the council, I was part of a team investigating a village near here, we got into the village hall, then I don't know where we ended up."

"Shadow World, is the rest of your team still in there?"

"I don't know, some black mass started chasing me, and I got separated."

"Hmm, that's not good, if it's the portal I think, it's permenant, so your team may have made it out, but those things are nasty."

"What was it?"

"A Shadow Phage, if one catches you, it eats your sanity, and dumps you. . .into. . . the normal world, that's what happened to the other groups!" Kiiri clapped her hands as she reached her conclusion.

"Uh, is she, ok?" the Rune Knight asked nervously.

"I think she's just on a permentant sugar rush." Evergreen said.

"Anyway, where were the other groups found?" Freed asked.

"In the a village not far from here, Sugitani, all of them were found in the square."

"Sugitani is the nearest place to Kurokawajima, it's a day's long carridge ride from here, we'd want to stay the night before heading up the valley." Kiiri said

"You're going there!" The Rune Knight looked ill.

"Yeah, council got sick of losing Rune Knights, so asked us to have a look, what exactly were you looking for anyway?" Bixlow asked.

The had taken seats in the bar , Evergreen was sorting out food and drinks for the group.

"Everything and anything. What happened? Did any magic tomes survive? Locate a rumoured portal."

"You did that, walked right through it in fact." Kiiri said.

"The ghosts are odd, they're afraid of something, but we couldn't find out what, one said they were waiting for someone to return home. But I'm not a researcher, I'm just a soldier."

"We should get to Sugitani as fast as possible, to see if those others are there." Freed said.

"We shouldn't fly, the weather in the valleys is unpredictable, at least on the ground, you can see the road beneath your feet." Kiiri said.

"You know a lot about this area." Evergreen said.

"My family is from the area, and I know a couple of people in Sugitani."

"Seriously."

"Yeah, if they're still alive, I should be able to get us free accomodation, Akane and Hikaru."

"I saw them, they're the oldest people in the village, how do you know them?" The Rune Knight asked.

"They raised me from about the age of five, I don't remember what happened to my parents, my aunt disappeared, I know that, vanished on a job, and I have a cousin somewhere, but I have no information on him, except he's about my age, and he's a guy."

"So I'm guessing you'll be heading to Sugitani tomorrow." the Rune Knight said.

"Yes."

"Can I hitch a ride, if my team are there, I'll be able to get a message out."

"I don't see any problems." Freed said

The food arrived, and the group ate, Kiiri was quiet and stuggling to stay awake, once they had finished she headed to bed.

"Night, we need to be on the road by sunrise, it's a long trip."


	5. Kurokawajima Part 3

Authors notes: Still no more reviews, this is getting really depressing, and I know there are people reading this *wipes away a few tears*.

Anyway, here is chapter five, Kurokawajima, part 3.

The Raijinshu were glad they'd taken the carridge instead of flying, thick grey clouds hung omminously low and the wind shrieked through the valleys and passes, it almost sounded like people screaming.

"What's with this wind?" Freed shouted over the din.

"It's called the Ghost Wind, it originates from Kurokawajima." The Rune Knight replied. He'd opted to help Freed drive, instead of staying in the Carridge with Kiiri and Bixlow. Evergreen was currently trying to fly ahead as a scout, but she wasn't getting far, and joined the group, taking the third seat on the top of the Carridge.

"It's going to be interesting ahead, there's been a small land slide, I doubt the carridge will make it without help."

"Hmm, I wondered what these boards were for." the Rune Knight said, pointing to what they were sitting on.

"I guess landslides must happen quite frequently."

In the carridge Kiiri and Bixlow were talking.

"How many guild have you actually been in?" he asked

"Fairy Tail is the sixth."

"Sixth, what happened at the others?"

"I joined what used to be the guild in Shirotsume, but it went bust, then I joined Blue Pegasus, but I quickly decided that the further away from that perfume wielding, rabbit nosed moron I was, the better for everyone. Then there was Phantom Lord, but I couldn't stand Jose, that lasted a month. I stuck around Lamia scale for a a few months, but the atmosphere just wasn't right. So I tried Quatro Cerberus, it was quite fun, until that drunk moron Baccus came back from a long mission, he doesn't understand the meaning of the words, 'not interested'."

"What did you do?"

"I got one of those magic clothing dyes, got him so drunk that he didn't sobre up for three days, and turned his entire wardrobe, bright pink. The Drunk Falcon became the Drunk Flamingo."

"I guess he didn't get the hint."

"No, one of the others suggested I try Fairy Tail, and I like what I've seen so far, you lot might just be crazy enough."

"If we ain't, I doubt anyone will be." he said.

_Hmm, so she likes crazy, and she's hot, I'm gonna go for it, but not in the middle of a mission, that would be too much of a distraction, like those legs, damnit, good thing my visor hides the fact I'm staring._

Kiiri was momentarily distracted by his dolls.

"Do they have names?"

"Pappa, Peppe, Pippi, Poppo, Puppu." he pointed to each one as he named them.

"Aww, soo cuute." she squealed.

_Whoa, this girl is gonna drive me crazy, I want her, like now!_ Bixlow knew he needed to calm down, and the sudden jolt of the carridge stopping gave him the excuse.

"Oi, what's going on."

"Landslide, we need to build a bridge, so get out and help!" Evergreen shouted the last part.

"Ok, ok, keep yer hair on Ever."

The pair got out and looked at the road.

"It's natural," Kiiri said, "though there may be bandits around, I'd be surprised if they missed an opportunity like this."

"Too right! Ohh, a pair of cuties and a trio of morons, excellent."

"He's a Rune Knight." another one sounded scared.

"Relax, I'll deal with him, you lot, make sure the girls aren't too banged up, the others, they can die." A young man with white hair was smirking at the group below, his clean clothes suggested he was the leader of the group.

"While it's nice you think I'm cute, you guys really ain't my type." Kiiri giggled. "Shadow Step."

"What the. . . another mage?"

"We're ALL mages!" Evergreen laughed, having taken flight, "Machine Gun Leprechaun!"

"ALL OF YOU!"

"Yeah, too bad for you!" Kiiri emerged in the middle of a large group and began to do damage.

"Martial arts ain't no good against swords!" the leader laughed.

"Get 'em BABIES!"

"What!"

"Will they be alright?" the Rune Knight asked Freed.

"If you're refering to the bandits, no, Yami no Erecture!" he stopped a couple of bandits from fleeing.

"What guild did you say you were from again?"

"Fairy Tail."

"Oh god I'm gonna die."

"Unlikely, our team isn't noted for excessive collateral damage, unlike the rest of the guild."

The fight was over quickly, and Kiiri was annoyed.

"Aww, you ambush us, then have the nerve to be pushovers, boring." she moaned as she headed for the cliff above the road.

"So you know martial arts?" Evergreen was surprised.

"Yeah, I don't know much offensive magic, so I use what I have combined with Martial Arts, it works though, I can Shadow Step in the middle of a move, so I can literally appear while kicking someone where it hurts, best ambush move ever!"

"So long as I ain't on the recieving end." Bixlow winced at the thought.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, Bixlow and Kiiri swapped with the other three, and were now on top of the carridge.

"I forgot how cold this wind could be, Shadow Chest!"

"What is that?"

"My luggage, I store it in the Shadow World and summon it when I need it, and this is what I was looking for." she pulled out a long black woolen cloak, and wrapped it round herself.

"Much better." she closed the chest and snapped her fingers, it vanished into a black mist. "Ooh!" Kiiri grabbed a bottle from her pouch and collected as much of the mist as possible.

"What is that?"

"Pure Shadow, or it will be once I distill it, a hundred thousand jewels per gram on the Black Market."

"What's it used for?"

"A Shadow mage can use it instead of their own magic power to cast Shadow magic spells, but it has some pretty nasty side effects if the distillation goes wrong, and you can't tell until you drink it. So it's illegal to buy or sell it, but not to distill it, or make it. I don't sell it, but I will use it if I have to."

"Even with the risks?"

"I've never had any problems before." she grinned.

_Yeah, totally crazy, but that's good_. Bixlow decided, "Hmm, it's getting dark, how much further?"

"See those lights, that's Sugitani, we're about a mile out."

"That's not so bad, OI, we're nearly there guys!"

"Almost there."

"Almost there."

The village of Sugitani was busy when they rode in, it seemed that the Council's team had just been discovered.

"I'd best get a message out, Lahar-san isn't going to like this."

"At least tell him we're here, so he doesn't need to send anyone else." Evergreen said.

"Guild mages, that cursed place is claiming far too many people, you really should turn back."

"We'll be fine, and we have a pretty good idea what's driving those teams insane." Evergreen replied confidently.

"I'm still not. . . Kiiri-Chan! You're with these mages!" the man who had first spoken was shocked.

"Yeah, I changed guild again, this is my first job."

Another villager whispered something to him, and he sighed, "Look, just avoid the village hall, that's the only thing that seems to link the groups."

"Ok, though we were hoping to rest up tonight before taking a look." Kiiri said.

"No problem, we'll find space for you all."

"I'll remain with my team." the Rune Knight said, "Try and get some sense out of them."

"Kiiri, you haven't written in ages."

"Akane!" Kiiri hugged the old woman who approached.

"Another guild, will this one last?"

"I think so!"

"You're not going up the valley are you!"

"Hai!"

"Please don't, please child, for your sake and our hearts, don't go there!"

"But I've got to, it's the mission I'm on, but we're going to head up in the morning."

The old woman moaned and stumbled.

"Akane!"

"Promise me you'll leave that place before sundown, all of you, it's cursed, if you remain there after dark, you'll suffer the same fate as them!" she pointed to the insane council mages.

"Alright, we'll be back by sundown." Kiiri said.

"But if we don't find anything?" Freed said quietly.

"Then we decide what to do that evening." she said assertivly.

"Come on, Hidaki will be pleased to see you, just don't tell him where you're going, he's been ill lately."

"O-ok, will he be alright?" Kiiri was worried.

"He should be, hopefully, though I only have room for one person at the moment, sorry."

"It's alright Akane, I said we would find space, even if it's in the hall."

"I'll see you in the morning." Kiiri said, before following Akane up the slope to the top of the village.

"Night." the group said before following the man who was looking for their accomodation.

The villagers left them alone, but the Raijinshu did not mind.

"I see what Kiiri meant about that place's reputation." Evergreen said.

"Yeah, though if they fear it so much, why do these people still live here?" Bixlow was confused.

"This is their home, and a few probably see it as their responsibility to warn others away." Freed said.

"Anyway, lets get some sleep, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow." Bixlow pulled the covers around himself, and dozed off.

That morning, the village was silent, until Kiiri bounced down the hill.

"They won't see us off, it's bad luck." she explained. "Akane gave us some food for the day, I wouldn't eat any berries or fruit, they're normally bad at this time of year."

As they approached Kurokawajima they noticed how still everything was, nothing moved, and other than themeselves, nothing made a noise.

"Whoa, I see what they mean when they said destoryed, there's nothing left." Bixlow said, staring at the charred remains of the village.

"But there's no plant life, what gives?" Evergreen looked uneasy.

"This was done with Magic, it's the only explaination." Freed concluded.

"This branch weird." Kiiri said, examining something on the ground, "Oh, it's not a branch." she stepped away, turning pale.

"You alright."

"Something isn't right, weren't there supposed to be ghosts?"

"Yeah, I can't see anything." Bixlow looked around."

They continued deeper into the charred ruins, but only found ash and rubble.

"Huh, something brushed against my leg." Evergreen looked around but saw nothing.

"We're being watched, I know it." Freed said.

"Yeah, but I can't see any souls."

"Hmm, Shadow Eyes!"

"Ah! It's the Shadow Phage! It's trying to cross over into this world!"

"How do you kill them!" Evergreen yelled.

"Magic, just don't let it touch you, or you lose your mind." Kiiri replied, dodging as an amorphous black mass oozed into existance.

"Kiiri, do you have any ranged attacks!" Bixlow asked.

"No, unless throwing rocks counts, I'll try to keep it on me, they tend to go for easy prey, and they can't fly, so stay in the air!"

Kiiri ran past the Phage, drawing it's attention from the others.

"Machine Gun Leprechaun!"

"Yami no erecture! Darkness!"

"Barion formation!"

The Shadow Phage ignored the attacks, and continued chasing Kiiri through the village.

"It's taking damage, keep at it!" she yelled, jumping over some rubble.

The Raijinshu launched attack after attack at it, but it still ignored them.

"How much damage can this thing take!" Ever shouted.

"It's almost done!" Kiiri shouted, "Kyaa!"

"Shit, Victory Formation!"

The attack hit and hundreds of screams surrounded the village, the Shadow Phage shuddered and convulsed before oozing into the ground.

"Did we get it?" Freed asked

"Yeah, that's what happens when they die, but I didn't have time to explain it." Kiiri said.

"You ok?" Bixlow asked.

"Yeah, ground gave way beneath my foot."

"Hereaaagh!"

A whole section of the ground collapsed as Bixlow jumped down next to Kiiri and they both tumbled into a cavern.

"Oh great what now?" Evergreen hissed.

Once the dust had settled Kiiri looked around and saw they were in a vast library.

"Whoa, this is incredible, oh, you alright?"

"Fine." Bixlow grunted, "Though if you could move your knee away from my crotch it would be appreciated."

"Oh sorry!" Kiiri moved off Bixlow who sat up and checked himself over.

"Nothing broken, and you didn't hit it, but I'm not gonna take any risks."

"Ok."

"Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we found a library down here."

"Is there a way out?" Freed said.

"Hmm, well there's a door here, but I don't know where it leads."

"If need be we'll fly back up, but this looks like a good place to start looking." Bixlow said.

The library was vast, and contained hundreds of books, scrolls and charts.

"Is this the Shadow Archive?" Freed said.

"Could be, all the books are on Shadow Magic."

"Shadow Archive?" Evergreen said.

"A library where knowledge of all Shadow Magic is kept, I know the Council have been looking for it." Kiiri said looking around. "I could spend years here studying."

"I'm afraid we don't have years." Freed said heading to check the door out.

The door opened onto a narrow passage which, in turn, opened into a small dimly lit room.

"Hmm, a lacryma?" Evergreen spotted it.

"Wonder what it does." Bixlow picked it up, "I'm getting nothing."

"Let me take a look." Kiiri took it from him and it stirred into life.

"It's projecting something"

_A dark moonless night shrouds a valley in shadow, small orange glows indicate lights and torches. In a village a festival is in full swing, people wearing Yukatas enjoying themselves._

_The image zooms in and focuses on a small group of people talking. A woman carries a sleeping child in her arms._

_"Aww, she's fallen asleep, you'd best get her to bed Eilleth." a younger woman said._

_"Yeah, it's well past her bedtime. I'll come back once I'm done."_

_"Ok, pity Irona couldn't stay longer." the younger woman turned to her other companion._

_"She said she'd bring her boy along next time."_

_"Have you seen the pictures, he is so cute, though he apparantly takes after his grandfather in looks."_

_"I guess it could be worse, he could take after his father."_

_"The less said about him the better, you know what Irona said, she's just waiting for an excuse and she'll divorce him."_

_"Right, that didn't take long." the woman named Eilleth had returned, and the group headed back into the crowd._

_The image panned out to reveal a shadowy figure standing on top of the shrine gate, suddenly he held his hand up and sent blood red rays into the festival._

_The crowd reacted as an amorphous mass, screaming and trying to escape the barrage._

_"This is too earrgh!"_

_A couple of men had reached the gate and had sent spells back at him, hitting him square on._

_"Heh, that tickled, got any more?"_

_"Shadow Gyser!"_

_"Hmm, so the Shadow Weaver is here, well it can't be helped, Vamperic Lash!"_

_"Shadow Wings!"_

_The fight lasted for a few minutes, neither mage able to land a blow on the other, they moved through the air over the village trying to gain an advantage._

_"That's it little girl, keep at it, hah, it's too late now!"_

_"What?"_

_"You think you can stop me, Bleeding Light. . ._

_"NO!"_

_"of The Crimson Sun!" The man was engulfed by a deep crimson light which expanded outwards, filling the entire image, then the recording stopped._

"What was that?" Evergreen asked.

"Bleeding light of The Crimson Sun, that's a horrible way to die, I won't describe it, you'll just lose your breakfast." Bixlow said, grimacing.

"Kiiri? Are you alright!" Freed had just noticed her, clutching her head, eyes wide open, a look of horror frozen on her face.

"Ah, ah. . . ahh. . . EYAAAAAA!" as she screamed tendrils of Shadow filled the room, draining the colour from everything around.

"Shit, I can't see!"

"What's happening!"

"Not good, seriously not good!"

"Not good!"

"Not good!"

There was a retching sound as the tendils faded away and they could see Kiiri vomiting a strange black gloop.

"Something tells me, that although I don't want to, I'm going to find out what this is." Freed said.

Kiiri stopped vomiting and stumbled back, eyes wild and unfocused, like a wounded animal. Suddenly she bolted and leapt into the library, desperate for a way out.

"What now?" Evergreen shouted.

"Follow her, and try to stop her from hurting herself!" Bixlow responded before giving chase.

It did not take long to catch up, Kiiri had collapsed unconcious and was convulsing on the ground, more tendrils of shadow eminating from the air around her.

"At least everything is back to colour vision." he muttered, checking her over.

"She'll wake up in a few hours."

"G-GHOST!" Evergreen screamed as she entered the library.

"I'd figured that much out Ever." Bixlow growled. "What's going on?"

"You saw what happened to this village in that recording, official reports state that there were no survivors. They were wrong, at the start you saw a child being taken to bed, her name is Kiiri Kawashura, we've been trying to locate her ever since."

"Why?"

"This library, she might be the only person who can unlock it's secrets."

"Just one slight problem, she ain't likely to be in much of a state to do that." Bixlow sighed.

"Why not?"

Bixlow just pointed.

"She had no memories of this place, until just now I'm guessing." Freed said.

"How did she survive?" Evergreen asked.

"I don't know."

"I thought there was more than one of you." Bixlow said.

"There are, but the others cannot come down here, they're waiting in the village proper."

"Is it safe to move her?"


End file.
